Now and then - by Richard... Sunday, December 27, 2009

Now and then - by Richard... Sunday, December 27, 2009

"Breaking news" in Kenya's The Nation today tells us that Lake Chad was bigger than Israel less than 50 years ago. Now, we aare told, its surface area is less than a tenth of its earlier size, amid forecasts the lake could disappear altogether within 20 years.

And, of course, the cause is ... climate change, with a walk-on part for "overuse". These factors have put one of Africa's mightiest lakes in mortal danger, and the livelihoods of the 30 million people who depend on its waters is hanging by a thread as a result.


The National Geographic News for 26 April 2001, however, had a slightly different story, recording how two researchers from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, have been working to determine the causes of Lake Chad's shrinkage. 
In a report published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, they concluded that human activities were to blame.

Interestingly, Pajamasmedia notes today that, in the year Obama was born, Kenya had higher per capita income than South Korea. The reasons for this and the current situation with Lake Chad are not entirely unrelated.

The one thing for sure, it is not currently, lack of water. Even the BBC admits that "other factors" include "irrigation and the damming of rivers feeding the lake for hydro-electric schemes." 

CLIMATE CHANGE – NEW THREAD

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Then and now - by Richard...

From The Independent on 20 March 2000 we got the headline: "Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past". According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".


Then, from the Telegraph online today we get: "Snow and ice to hit Britain at New Year."

The mercury is set to drop to 28°F (-3°C) in most of England and Wales on Thursday night, New Year's Eve, and 17°F (-8°C) in Scotland, with widespread snow showers also predicted. New Year's Day will also be chilly, with the northern half of Britain's struggling to get above freezing during the day, while London will do well to reach 39°F (4°C)

The forecast follows a spell of snow, sleet and ice which has gripped Britain for more than a week but relented in most parts over recent days.

It is so good to see in The Independent that the CRU is living up to its justly acquired reputation for accuracy.

CLIMATE CHANGE – NEW THREAD

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Pachauri: not $300,000 but $800,000 admitted - by Richard...

Following our publication of details of some of Pachauri's earnings, gleaned from an Indian newspaper, we attributed some $300,000 income to which Pachauri had admitted.

However, now we have seen the original copy of the press release issued by TERI, it seems we may have significantly underestimated even that amount. In the entry for Yale University, we see the sum of $48,750 declared. But alongside this, we see the legend: "Monthly payments received upto (sic) 30th Nov 2009." 

There is an element of ambiguity here, but the $48,750 could either be the total payment from Yale, or it could be the monthly payment. If it is read as the latter – which is how it actually reads - that would produce an annualised figure of over $500,000 ($585,000 to be exact). This is closer to the sums paid for "star" performers.

The classic example is Tony Blair who was paid $200,000 by the university after a deal to give seminars ten times a year on religion.

Like Pachauri, Blair "laundered" the fee through his own set-up, in this case the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, although he also took a direct fee of $10,000 from the university for a speaking engagement. The balance, after tax, was paid to his foundation.

Certainly, Yale University has enough money in the kitty to pay Pauchari more than half a million a year. The Climate and Energy Institute to which he was been appointed head has been funded to the tune of $3 million, provided by an "anonymous donor," a base on which it aims to build "via private donor contributions."

Who these anonymous donors are, of course, we will never know, which makes the University itself a perfect way of laundering payments to Pachauri. By the time they have been transferred to the university and then TERI, they have passed through two "cut-outs" and are entirely untraceable.

With his Yale fee, though, Pachauri's known earnings are in the $800,000 bracket, and these only cover some of the organizations we named in our article. Add the rest, plus Pachauri's payments from the IPCC, and he must easily be in the million-dollar bracket for his annual earnings. Yet, about how much of that is paid to Pachauri by his own TERI, he remains curiously reticent.

PACHAURI THREAD